Editing Nuns on the Run

{{short description|1990 British comedy film by Jonathan Lynn}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Nuns on the Run
| image          = Nuns_on_the_run_poster.jpg
| caption        = Promotional release poster
| alt            = 
| writer         = Jonathan Lynn 
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* [[Eric Idle]]
* [[Robbie Coltrane]]
* [[Janet Suzman]]
* [[Camille Coduri]]
}} 
| director       = [[Jonathan Lynn]] 
| cinematography = Michael Garfath
| producer       = [[Michael White (producer)|Michael White]]
| studio         = [[HandMade Films]]
| distributor    = [[20th Century Fox]]
| released       = {{film date|1990|3|16|United States|1990|5|4|London|1990|5|26|United Kingdom}}
| music          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Yello]]
* Hidden Faces 
** ([[Frank Fitzpatrick]] and [[David Kitay]])
}}
| editing        = David Martin
| runtime        = 89 minutes 
| language       = English
| country        = United Kingdom
| budget         =
| gross          = $11 million (USA)<ref name="numbers">{{cite web |title=Nuns on the Run (1990) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Nuns-on-the-Run#tab=summary |website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]}}</ref>
}}
'''''Nuns on the Run''''' is a 1990 British [[comedy]] film starring [[Eric Idle]] and [[Robbie Coltrane]], also featuring [[Camille Coduri]] and [[Janet Suzman]]. The film was written and directed by [[Jonathan Lynn]] and produced by [[HandMade Films]]. Many of the outdoor scenes were shot in [[Chiswick]], [[White City, London|White City]] and [[Kings Cross, London|Kings Cross]]. The soundtrack was composed and performed by [[Yello]] and also features [[George Harrison]]'s song "[[Blow Away]]" in addition to [[Steve Winwood]]'s "[[Roll with It (Steve Winwood song)|Roll With It]]". The film was released on 16 March 1990.

==Plot==
After their boss is killed during a bank robbery, London gangsters Brian Hope and Charlie McManus desire to lead more peaceful lives in Brazil, disapproving of their new younger and more brash boss, Casey. While planning to rob a local Triad gang of their ill-gotten drug money, Brian meets and falls in love with a waitress, Faith. During the robbery, Brian and Charlie betray their fellow gangsters, Abbott and Morley, steal the money and flee, but are forced to abandon their car when it runs out of petrol and seek refuge in a nearby nunnery during the ensuing gunfight. Faith, who had tried to warn Brian beforehand, is shot in the wrist by Abbott, while one of the triads is shot and hospitalised. After this, Casey places a bounty on Brian and Charlie's heads.

Disguising themselves as nuns, Brian and Charlie introduce themselves to the Sister Superior, Liz, as Sisters Inviolata and Euphemia, respectively. Faith, having witnessed the gunfight and Brian and Charlie fleeing into the nunnery, follows them and poses as a mature student to get inside. Her gunshot wound is exposed and she is taken to the infirmary. Brian pays her a secret visit and claims he is married in order to end their relationship for her safety. When Faith intends to go to church and confess, Charlie distracts the priest, Father Seamus, while Brian poses as him. Faith admits she still loves Brian, but Brian convinces Faith to keep silent. On her way out, she is abducted by the Triads and interrogated. She directs them to Casey and they set her free, but bumps into a lamppost and hits her head on the road, ending up in the hospital, where one Triad has infiltrated the staff as a cleaner. Brian and Charlie acquire tickets to Brazil, despite Brian's desire to take Faith with them.

Brian decides to tell Faith the truth, but discovers she has not returned to the nunnery. They go to her flat and only barely escape from Abbott and Morley, who had been sent to retrieve her by Casey. They sneak back into the nunnery and manage to slip into their spare habits after accidentally waking up an eccentric nun, Sister Mary. In conversation, Brian learns that Faith is in the hospital, with her father and brother who are protecting her from the gang. He visits her, but she is heartbroken, believing that Brian no longer loves her. They wake up and leave for the airport the next morning, but are caught and exposed by Sister Mary. In desperation, they steal a utility and drive to the airport pursued by Sisters Liz and Mary, Morley and Abbott, and eventually Casey and the Triads. Brian forces Charlie to go to the hospital, where Brian tells Faith the truth while Charlie stalls the gangsters. They manage to escape the hospital with Faith and Casey is arrested, though one briefcase of money is lost during the chase. Sister Liz and Sister Mary find the lost briefcase and, ignoring the police concerns, decide to use it to fund a drug rehabilitation clinic. Sister Liz then leads the nuns in prayer, thanking God for sending them Sisters Euphemia and Inviolata, and asking him to, "keep on eye on them, won't you? They need you."

Brian, Charlie and Faith reach the airport and check-in, when an airport policeman warns the attendant about Brian and Charlie. They board the flight on board a [[British Airways]] Boeing 747-200 jumbo jet, disguised as attendants and successfully escape the UK for Brazil.

==Cast==
* [[Eric Idle]] as Brian Hope/Sister Euphemia of the Five Wounds
* [[Robbie Coltrane]] as Charlie McManus/Sister Inviolata of the Immaculate Conception
* [[Janet Suzman]] as Sister Liz, the Sister Superior of the nunnery
* [[Camille Coduri]] as Faith Thomas
* Robert Patterson as Mr. "Case" Casey
* [[Doris Hare]] as Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart
* [[Lila Kaye]] as Sister Mary of the Annunciation
* [[Tom Hickey (actor)|Tom Hickey]] as Father Seamus, the somewhat lecherous priest of the nunnery
* [[Colin Campbell (actor)|Colin Campbell]] as Norm
* Robert Morgan as Abbott, one of Casey's henchmen
* Winston Dennis as Morley, one of Casey's henchmen and the bouncer of his health club
* Gary Tang as Ronnie Chang, the head of the Triads
* David Forman as Henry Ho
* [[Ozzie Yue]] as Ernie Wong, the most senior of the Triads

As an [[in-joke]], Brian Hope and Charlie McManus are credited as playing the flight attendants.

==Production==
Filming of the convent exterior took place at St. Michael & All Angels Church on Priory Avenue, Chiswick, west London. Interior shots were done at former [[Royal Masonic School for Boys]] at Bushey in Hertfordshire.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.british-film-locations.com/Nuns-on-the-Run-1990|title=Nuns on the Run (1990)|website=British Film Locations|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014012504/http://www.british-film-locations.com/Nuns-on-the-Run-1990|archive-date=14 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reelstreets.com/films/nuns-on-the-run/|website = ReelStreets|title=Nuns on the Run}}</ref> Other locations include White City, Putney and other parts of central London.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smaaa.org.uk/wp/church-and-parish-hall/history-of-st-michael-all-angels/nuns-on-the-run-1990-filmed-at-st-michael-all-angels/|title=Nuns on the Run (1990): filmed at St Michael & All Angels|website=St Michael and All Angels Church}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://findthatlocation.com/film-title/nuns-on-the-run/location/241|title = Where is Nuns on the Run filmed?|website=Find That Location}}</ref>

==Release==
The film opened in the United States first on 16 March 1990. It opened at the [[Odeon Haymarket]] in London on 4 May 1990 before opening nationwide in the UK on 25 May 1990.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Times]]|date=28 April 1990|title=The Week in Preview: Film|page=44}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Herald (Plymouth)|Evening Herald]]|location=Plymouth|last=Scully|first=Rob|date=12 May 1990|title=Idle moments at the convent with the Glasgow hard man|page=17}}</ref>

==Reception==
The film received mixed reviews from critics, and was criticised in the [[United States]] for its lack of depth and excessive use of nuns for humour. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has a 42% rating based on reviews from 26 critics, with an average rating of 4.6/10.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nuns on the Run |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nuns_on_the_run |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=2022-11-04 }}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] asked, "Why do filmmakers so often insist that nuns are funny? I'll bet there are some psychological reasons buried around here somewhere."<ref>{{cite news |date=March 16, 1990 |author=Roger Ebert |author-link= Roger Ebert |title= Nuns on the Run |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |via=RogerEbert.com |url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/nuns-on-the-run-1990 |access-date=30 September 2021 }}</ref> Ebert and [[Gene Siskel]] had also ridiculed Fox's advertising campaign for the film; in retaliation, Fox's president of marketing, [[Bob Harper (producer)|Bob Harper]], announced that they would be barred from press screenings of future films released by the company, though he backed down after only three weeks under pressure from the [[Chicago Film Critics Association]] (of which neither Siskel nor Ebert was a member).<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.chicagofilmcritics.org/about/54 | title = Chicago's Critics in the Fox hole | date = 26 January 2008 | access-date = 3 November 2014 | publisher = [[Chicago Film Critics Association]] | first = Dann | last = Gire }}</ref> Michael Wilmington of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' noted that as far as drag comedies go, the film "has some bawdy class—but only because of its casting".<ref>{{cite news |author= Michael Wilmington |title= Movie Review : 'Nuns on the Run': A Comedic and Risque Change of Habit |newspaper= [[Los Angeles Times]] |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-16-ca-116-story.html |access-date= 2012-06-05 |archive-date= 4 December 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131204033145/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-03-16/entertainment/ca-116_1_nun-run-movie |url-status= live }}</ref>

[[Vincent Canby]] wrote in ''[[The New York Times]]'' that "''Nuns on the Run'' is a great leveler. It makes everyone in the audience feel a rascally 8 years old, the age at which [[whoopee cushion]]s (when they work) seem the greatest invention since firecrackers."<ref>{{cite news |date=1990-03-16 |author=Vincent Canby |author-link= Vincent Canby |title= Review/Film;Hoods With a Habit, in 'Nuns on the Run'|newspaper= [[The New York Times]]|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/16/movies/review-film-hoods-with-a-habit-in-nuns-on-the-run.html |access-date=2022-04-01 }}</ref> [[Owen Gleiberman]] wrote in one of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''{{'s}} first issues that the film "isn't a madcap-hysterical, end-of-the-empire [[Drag queen|drag]] farce; it doesn't hash over what [[Monty Python]] did definitively over 20 years ago. It's a cleverly directed caper comedy about two crooks on the lam, and it has its fair share of chuckles."<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Owen Glieberman |author-link=Owen Gleiberman |title=Nuns on the Run |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20266232,00.html |access-date=5 June 2012 |archive-date=23 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623234300/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20266232,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Box office===

The film was successful in the US on limited release, making $658,835 in its first screenings at 76 theatres.<ref>{{cite news|title= Weekend Box Office : 'Red October' Doing Fine in March |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=20 March 1990 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-20-ca-469-story.html |first=Pat H.|last=Broeske|access-date=14 May 2019}}</ref> ''Nuns on the Run'' grossed US$10,959,015, according to [[Box Office Mojo]].

It made £3.2 million at the UK box office.<ref name="org">{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-back-to-the-future-the-fall-and-rise-of-the-british-film-industry-in-the-1980s.pdf|page=27|title=Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing|website=British Film Institute|date=2005}}</ref>

== Home media ==

The distribution rights for ''Nuns on the Run'' were initially held by [[Anchor Bay Entertainment]] for [[DVD-Video|DVD]] release in the United Kingdom. The original DVD was made available on 8 April 2002.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nuns-Run-DVD-Eric-Idle/dp/B000060NZB/ | title=Nuns on the Run [1990]| date=8 April 2002| publisher=[[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]| access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref> A second printing was released on 10 October 2005 under its subsidiary 'Bay View',<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nuns-Run-DVD-Eric-Idle/dp/B000AMSSE8/ref=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1497492307&sr=1-3&keywords=nuns+on+the+run+dvd| title=Nuns on the Run [1990] [DVD]| date=10 October 2005| publisher=[[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]| access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref> while a third and final release came from Anchor Bay, alongside ''[[Time Bandits]]'' in a 'Double Disc Box Set' on 6 February 2006.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/DVD-Blu-ray/Nuns-Run-Time-Bandits-John-Cleese/B000CEGU4E/ | title=Nuns on the Run/Time Bandits [DVD]| date=6 February 2006| publisher=[[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]| access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref> After which, the then Optimum Releasing (now [[StudioCanal UK]]) released the film on 4 January 2010.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nuns-Run-DVD-Eric-Idle/dp/B002V8FS8I/ | title=Nuns on the Run [DVD]| date=4 January 2010| publisher=[[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]| access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref> [[Arrow Films]] currently hold distribution rights to the film as all previous releases are now out-of-print. Arrow released ''Nuns on the Run'' to DVD on 27 June 2016,<ref>{{cite web| title=Nuns On the Run| url=https://www.musicmagpie.co.uk/store/products/idleericnunsonther| website=musicmagpie.co.uk| access-date=1 September 2024}}</ref> with a reissue distributed on 17 April 2019.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nuns-on-the-Run-DVD/dp/B01D2UQ5RG/ | title=Nuns on the Run [DVD]| publisher=[[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]| access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Cross-dressing in film and television]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links ==
{{Wikiquote|Nuns on the Run}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0100280}}
* {{mojo title|id=nunsontherun|title=Nuns on the Run}}

{{Jonathan Lynn}}
{{HandMade Films}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuns on the Run}}
[[Category:1990 films]]
[[Category:1990 crime comedy films]]
[[Category:20th Century Fox films]]
[[Category:British crime comedy films]]
[[Category:British independent films]]
[[Category:Cross-dressing in British films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films about Catholic nuns]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jonathan Lynn]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Jonathan Lynn]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films shot at Shepperton Studios]]
[[Category:HandMade Films films]]
[[Category:Religious comedy films]]
[[Category:1990 independent films]]
[[Category:Triad films]]
[[Category:1990s British films]]
[[Category:English-language crime comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]